Love Live!: The University Series
by Cynnifer
Summary: Love Live! University AU. Where Eri is bisexual and has a crush on Umi, an underclassman in a band. Where Nico has a crush on the pianist from the same band. Rin, the drummer of the band, is Ace. And Honoka and Kotori are in a long-distance relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Eri didn't really have any sort of fondness for the club scene. It was loud. Too many flashing disorienting lights. Too many loud noises. Too many sweaty bodies pushing each others in waves of motion leaving little to no room for personal space. It was bad enough that she had to work in that sort of environment but for Nozomi and Nico to drag her here for a so-called "fun-night out"? Eri was resisting the urge to kill her so called 'best-friends'.

"What the hell am I doing here?" Eri moaned, sifting her beverage around in her glass. She didn't even know what she was drinking — just that Nico assured her it was non-alcoholic. Mainly, it tasted like a fizzy cherry juice cider… The moment, if ever, Eri started feeling even the slightest bit woozy, she would stop drinking. She did, after all, have to drive home.

"You are celebrating the successful end of the first semester," Nozomi explained with a teasing grin, lifting her own glass to her lips and taking a sip. She was obviously glowing from the energy in the room. "With your best friends who you have been neglecting as of late!" Nozomi added with a playful frown.

Eri felt a slight pang of guilt at that statement. "I'm sorry. I've just been a bit busy."

"I'm just teasing," Nozomi said. "You know I understand."

Eri smiled. "Did we have to come to a club though? I mean, there are so many other things to do than just sit and drink and talk."

"Well yes," Nozomi rolled her eyes and gestured at Nico. "You'll have to ask Nico for an explanation for this one," Nozomi teased with a sparkle in her eye.

Nico shot a scathing look at Nozomi. "Nozomi, shut up." she said extremely seriously.

Of course, Nozomi didn't. Eri would have questioned Nozomi's sanity had she listened. "Nico's got a crush on the pianist," Nozomi grinned deviously, her eyes turning towards the stage.

Eri followed her gaze. A quick appraisal told Eri that the stage at the rear of the club was being occupied by a five-member girl band. Eri focused on the pianist. She was pretty, Eri admitted. The pianist had a slim body, fair skin and very slender arms. Gorgeous burgundy-red hair. She had a sort of brooding-sexy but at the same time cute thing going for her. But no sparks flew. Eri sighed indadvertedly and turned to Nico who's cheeks were sporting a very flaming shade of red.

"Nozomi!" Nico exclaimed slamming her hands on the table to command her attention. "I do not have a crush on her," Nico stressed, puffing up. "I just admire her talent, that's all. She wrote the instrumentals for all of Muse's songs you know. She's really amazing. I'm a fan."

"Oh really?" Nozomi prodded, her lips curving into a smirk. "You won't mind if I get her number after then? She is rather cute," Nozomi ran her tongue over the top of her lip provocatively. "Very cute."

Nico's eyes flashed but she folded her arms in front of her, turning back to the stage. "No," Nico gritted. "Not at all. Do what you want."

A perfect cadence cut through until the harmony dissipated into the air into a sort of filled silence. The club erupted into applause — or hoots and hollers more like it from the people on the dance floor. Eri watched as the brown-haired girl centre-stage taped the microphone two times before she spoke into it.

"Hey guys," the cheerful girl's voice echoed through the club. A chorus of 'Heys' replied back to her, inciting a grin. "Hope you enjoyed that," she said, pausing, waiting for the club to respond with cheers. "So if you don't know already I'm Honoka," the audience greeted who Eri guessed was the lead singer very enthusiastically, "And we," Honoka turned to gesture to her band, "Are Muse." This time, the applause lasted quite a bit longer.

"They are really popular, aren't they?" Eri asked in the middle of the applause, her hands clapping along automatically.

"Are you kidding?!" Nico gaped at Eri incredulously. "They are the local band to listen to. They've won regional awards and stuff! One of their original music videos last year went viral on the web. And I think the lead singer actually went to our high school. How have you not heard of them?"

"You are the band fanatic. Not me," Eri reasoned.

"Yeah but this isn't like obscure hipster music. Muse is really popular. Especially around here," Nico continued arguing.

"Nico—"

"Never mind, just hush," Nico cut Eri's subsequent point off, turning back to the stage without a second glance.

"—bad news for you all," Honoka had been saying. "Some of you may know this but for those of you who don't know, Kotori is actually going to study fashion abroad in France." Honoka turned to the side, smiling at the guitarist. Honoka reached out to grab the hazel-blond girl's hand. Her eyes teared up slightly. "She's amazing, isn't she—" Honoka's voice broke off and she turned away from the audience, covering her face with her free arm. The guitarist quickly shrugged off her guitar, placing it not so gently on the floor, and wrapped her arms around the lead vocalist, shielding her from view. The guitarist murmured words that could not be heard from the audience.

A collective 'Aw' resounded. Then shouts of encouragement erupted.

"Don't leave her!"

"World's cutest couple!"

"Be strong!"

"Kotonoka forever!"

Eri blinked, leaning closer to Nozomi. "Were they a thing?"

Nozomi shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. "I guess so."

"Nico?" Eri prompted, turning to her other side. Nico had shed a tear, causing Eri to smile a bit. Nico was a big softy despite her bark.

Eri turned back to the stage just in time to see a dark-haired girl wave Honoka and Kotori off the stage and take the mic. Eri inhaled sharply. The dark-haired girl was strikingly beautiful. Her straight hair flowed to just above her waist and seemed to shimmer under the light. She had a defined nose but full and rosy lips. Her long legs were hugged and accented by the cut of her jeans. She wore a simple v-neck t-shirt that clung snuggly hugged her sides. But her eyes. Dark and mesmerizing. Was she the bassist? Yes, she must be.

Then, into the mic, the bassist spoke.

"So," the bassist began simply.

Suddenly, the room cheered.

That didn't make much sense to Eri — the bassist barely said anything. But at the same time, Eri could understand it. The bassist had the smoothest voice she had every heard. It was like listening to golden velvet. Like, if you could hear the touch of silk, that was what it could be.

"What the heck?!" Nico exclaimed, tugging at Eri's sleeve. "Oh my god, is she going to sing? She never sings!" Nico beamed at Eri. "Like ever. Especially not solo. It's always been Honoka or Maki taking lead. But oh my god, Maki and her are going to duet aren't they? This is going to be amazing!"

"Is that her name? Maki?" Nozomi spoke with a pointedly teasing smirk, inciting yet another glare.

"What's the bassist's name?" Eri asked.

"Shhhhhh," Nico hushed, her eyes stuck on the stage.

"We were going to play last number together as a group actually," the bassist spoke when quiet had settled over the audience. She spoke calmly, measured. It was rather different from how Honoka had commanded the scene — with contagious enthusiasm. The bassist, however, while she certainly had presence, she radiated a completely different type of aura. "But, Maki and I had to foresight to predict that Honoka and Kotori probably wouldn't be able to sing after that announcement and planned a surprise," the bassist looked over her shoulder to nod at Maki, who shot her a thumbs up. The bassist turned to face Honoka and Kotori, who were sitting at a table near the stage huddled close together. The drummer ran off the stage to offer the two of them tissue papers before leaping back to her seat. The bassist continued, gazing fondly upon that scene. "Kotori you are one of the nicest, kindest most caring people on the planet and I, Maki, Rin and of course, Honoka, care about you more than you can imagine. We will miss you so much more than we can say and Muse will probably never be the same without you." The bassist laughed slightly. "But, I'm not really good with words and neither is Maki, as you probably know, so instead, we decided to express our love in the only way we know how. We wrote a song for you."

A chorus of "Aw" and hoots.

The bassist bit her lips and waited for order. "So everyone. This is probably going to be the last song Muse will play for you until the next year. Because Muse isn't Muse unless Kotori is here so unfortunately, you, like us, will have to wait for her return."

Cheers. Applause.

"So, without further adieu…" The bassist stepped away from the mic and took off her bass. She grabbed Kotori's discarded guitar then stepped back to the mic. "Hope you don't mind if I borrow this," the bassist grinned at Kotori. "Alright then…" with a nod behind her, the pianist began playing.

Then the bassist-turned-guitarist started singing.

And it was the most awe-inspiring moment that Eri had ever encountered.


	2. Chapter 2

"She's amazing," Eri breathed, getting up with the rest of the club to give the dark-haired girl an standing ovation. Eri couldn't even describe how she was feeling in that moment. It was just… there are singers who can sing notes perfectly on pitch and have a flawless technique. But then, there were singers who, when they sang, just touched a place in the heart that wasn't there before. It was hard to explain. Harder to understand. Eri didn't understand it herself. Just. Wow.

"She is," Nico cheered, probably talking about an entirely different person.

When the applause died down, the bassist-turned-guitarist spoke into the microphone again. "Thanks everyone. Have a good night. We'll see you again in about a year." With that succinct farewell, she turned away and stepped off the stage, Maki and the drummer trailing behind her to meet up with Honoka and Kotori.

Eri made an impulsive decision. "I'm going to go talk to her," she announced, pushing off her seat. She padded down her clothes to smooth over any wrinkles and fiddled with her hair for a bit. Gah. She should have dressed up a bit more nicely! But no. It was just a night-out with Nozomi and Nico, Eri had thought. Hence, she simply through on a casual t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Wait what?! I'm coming with you then," Nico exclaimed. Despite her words of going 'with' Eri, she didn't hesitate to rush past Eri to arrive at Muse's table first.

Eri was about to follow after Nico when an hand caught her wrist and whirled her around.

"You're just going to leave me alone here?" Nozomi asked pointedly, not releasing her hold.

"Nozomi," Eri sighed, looking over at where Nico's short figure was now animatedly chatting with the band members, "You can come with us. It'll just be for a minute."

Nozomi's eyes narrowed and she let go, slumping back down in her seat. "Yeah. A minute of me watching you flirt with another girl."

Eri's lips pressed into a thin line, anger rising up and colouring her cheeks. "Okay. First of all, _you _broke up with _me_ for no good reason. So you have absolutely zero right to be jealous right now. Secondly, you've watched me date other people before and you were totally fine—"

"Yeah, but they were guys," Nozomi cut in, rolling her eyes. "I didn't have a chance against them," Nozomi retorted, finishing off the last of her drink. "What does this mean anyways? Are you going back to girls now?"

"Nozomi!" Eri exclaimed. "I'm bi and always will be! Bi. As in bisexual. As in I like both sexes! Like I've been telling you for the past seven or so years!" Eri clenched her fists and struck her arm down through the air. "Forget it, I don't even know why I'm trying to explain this to you, again." Eri turned around, rolling her eyes, and started towards Muse's table.

"Wait, Eri," Nozomi called out, getting up.

Sighing, Eri stopped and waited.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I don't know what got into me. Stay, please?" Nozomi pleaded, batting her eyes and snaking her hand into Eri's. "I'll buy you another drink."

Eri remembered how easy it was to get lost in those playful eyes. But she was also very familiar with how much hurt those same eyes had caused.

"If you're flirting with me right now, you have to stop," Eri stated firmly. She resisted the urge to look past Nozomi to where Nico was. This was a serious conversation. Nozomi deserved her undivided attention.

Even if Eri's attention was slightly divided at the moment.

"I'm not," Nozomi protested. "I really do just want to hang with my best friend. I haven't seen you for weeks and knowing your schedule, we won't be able to meet up for a while after this."

Nico returned before Eri could decide. Nico was sporting a very wide smile on her face.

"Guess who has a date this Saturday?" Nico beamed, sitting back down in her seat with a very cocky expression and oblivious to the tension between Nozomi and Eri.

Consciously relaxing herself, Eri stepped away from Nozomi and towards Nico. "Hmm, you?" she asked, pretending to think about it.

"Yup," a self-satisfied Nico brushed a ponytail behind her shoulder. "You should have come along Eri, I could have given you some pointers. Not that they would have helped with Maki — she's held over heels for me already. But maybe you could have gotten Umi's number or something."

"Umi? Is that the bassist's name?" Eri's eyes lit up. Self-conscious, Eri's eyes flickered over to assess Nozomi's expression. Thankfully, Nozomi simply smiled.

"Yeah. Once again, I'm surprised you haven't heard of her. She goes to the same university as you," Nico tossed the information out casually. "I've got to start thinking of some date ideas. What do you guys think? A movie probably right?"

"She does? Is she in my year?" Eri asked, disregarding everything else Nico had said.

"A year below, I think," Nico sipped her drink. "A movie and then dinner right? That's classic?"

"What faculty?"

"How should I know?" Nico shot back, frowning at Eri. "Just ask her yourself."

"Right. Right. I'll go do that then," Eri nodded, pushing off the table and taking a deep breath. Umi. Goes to her university. That's a pretty good ice breaker topic.

"Eri," Nozomi spoke up just before Eri set off.

"What now, Nozomi?!" Eri snapped, slumping and extremely frustrated.

"I'm sorry," Nozomi apologized immediately, looking genuinely contrite. "But don't you have to get home? What time did you tell Hanayo you'd be getting back?"

Eri's eyes went immediately to her watch. It was after twelve. "What?! When did it get so late?" Eri snatched her bag and swung her coat over her shoulder. "I've got to go guys," Eri said before downing the last of her drink. "Sorry!"

Without waiting for a response, Eri walked briskly out of the club.

When she got home, she remembered that she didn't even get to talk to the bassist, and let out an existential sigh.

Well, there were more fish in the sea. Guess they just weren't meant to be.


	3. Chapter 3

Nozomi and Eri were sitting outside a small gourmet café shop. Eri knew it was gourmet by the way her latte was served in an actual cup and saucer and with actual latte art swirls. She couldn't afford to come here too often — it would definitely hurt her student budget. But Nozomi had wanted to try the coffee here and treating herself once in a while was perfectly fine. Nozomi was talking about some modelling gig she was doing with Nico the next week. The finer details of which Eri was having trouble following. Not because she didn't understand, but because she wasn't paying attention.

Nozomi called her out on her blatant disinterest.

Eri, in response, squeezed her eyes shut and put her hand to her forehead, groaning. "I'm sorry, Nozomi. Really. I just. Yeah, there's not really a good excuse. Sorry," Eri pleaded, smiling at Nozomi across the coffee table.

"Just tell me what's up already," Nozomi rolled her eyes, leaning back. "You've been in a weird funk for the last week…" Nozomi's eyes flashed. "Wait, don't tell me this is about that bassist?"

"It's not… really," Eri protest fizzled out rapidly. Sitting up, "Look, it's just, I know if I go back to that time, I still would have went home. I need to take care of Alisa. It's not fair to make Hanayo watch her for me when it's my job to take care of her, you know? But at the same time, I really regret leaving without just talking to her even once, just saying 'Hi', you know? I keep imagining what would have happened if I got her number or something… I really really regret it. And then I feel bad for regretting it. It's like… Gah!" Eri gazed at Nozomi with a helpless expression. "It's hard to explain," Eri concluded.

"You know you could probably find her yourself, right?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow, responding after a slight pause. "Nico said she went to your school. It wouldn't be that hard to track her down."

"I thought about that," Eri admitted. "But I think I'd feel too much like a stalker," Eri continued sheepishly.

"Well don't complain about not being able to see her then!" Nozomi shot back. She was about to follow up with another comment when her phone buzzed. She grabbed it, looked at the text she received, then stood up. "Sorry Eri, I got to get going. I need to review scripts with my co-actor in thirty minutes."

"Right," Eri said, standing up as well and walking around the table to give Nozomi a hug. "See you when I see you then," Eri smiled, handing Nozomi her purse.

"Yeah, if ever. Your school and work schedule is crazy you know? I can't believe we were actually able to meet up," Nozomi teased, waving and walking away briskly.

Eri watched Nozomi's retreating back for a while before sighing. Then, she collected their tray, pilling their finished coffee cups onto it, and walked back into the café.

Eri stopped.

There, sitting at the table by the fireplace, was a girl with long dark hair. Her figure was identical to the girl who had stood on stage behind the microphone that other night. And her profile — the soft contours of her cheeks, the rosy lips, the sharp nose…

Eri couldn't be this lucky, could she?

The girl was concentrating intently on the notebook on the table. A pencil was in her left hand and she was using it to tap herself rhythmically on the side of her head, her right hand also tapping in time the table in front of her. She was seemingly deep in thought. Then, she scribbled something slowly on her notepad before returning to her previous position and biting her bottom lip.

Eri thought that was the cutest gesture she had ever seen from anybody.

Okay, Eri had to do something. This was a second chance — this was her second chance. Quickly, she set the used cups and saucers onto the café counter for a barista or another to pick them up. Then, she ordered another latte — she needed an excuse to be in the café, after all. Her order placed, she took a deep breath, and walked towards the table by the fireplace. Her heart was beating out of her chest and her entire body seemed finicky. She shouldn't be nervous. She was just going to make conversation. Be polite. Maybe make a new friend. She could do this.

"Hey," Eri said.

The dark-haired girl looked up from her notepad, casting big round eyes up at Eri. "Yes?" she asked, setting her pencil down on the table with a tap.

Eri blanked. God, the bassist was way more beautiful up close than Eri had ever imagined. The seconds ticked by. Say something! Her mind was screaming at Eri and yet Eri couldn't move.

"Um, yes?" the dark-haired girl repeated, blinking up at the blonde.

Eri finally found her voice. "Um— I— ah, I was maybe sit on you— I mean, with you— I mean on the table— at the table! I wanted— just um— you are really beautiful." Eri shut her eyes, absolutely mortified. She could feel her cheeks colouring. "I think I'll just leave now. Sorry I bothered you."

Eri practically ran away but stopped herself at the café door.

No. This was her second chance. Her second and probably last chance.

Steeling herself, she turned back around.

When she got to the bassist's table, the dark-haired girl looked up with a confused but amused smile.

"Hi, I'm Eri. I saw you at last week's concert and would really like to get to know you better. Do you mind if I sit here?" Eri rambled, speaking as quickly as she could to get all the words out before she blanked again. Eri gestured to the seat opposite the bassist's. Then, Eri waited.

Those were probably the longest five seconds Eri had ever experienced.

The bassist reached out slowly, then smiled. "Umi," she introduced, offering a hand to shake.

Eri breathed a sigh of relief and shook it.


	4. Chapter 4

"What are you working on?" Eri asked, eyeing the notebook Umi had out in front of her. After Eri had sat down, her heartbeat had slowed considerably. What was Eri even nervous about before? Eri was a good conversationalist. Eri caught Umi's twinkling smile and Eri's heart fluttered. Right. That was why Eri's mind wasn't on straight at the moment.

Umi laughed softly — whether it was just a natural gesture or a reaction to some of the nerve-wracked expressions Eri was undoubtably showing, Eri did not know. "I was just jotting down some ideas for a new song."

"Oh, what about?"

"Just… stuff," Umi replied vaguely, waving off the question. "It's a work in progress."

Eri blinked. Right. That was a mishap. Of course Eri shouldn't ask about unfinished pieces — it's like in the artist's code, or something. "Do you come here often to work?" Eri quickly followed.

"Every so often," Umi said, tapping her paper with her pen absentmindedly. The conversation — or lack thereof— settled into an awkward silence as Eri's mind drew up blanks. She needed to latch onto something of substance for them to talk about. "I like the atmosphere here," Umi spoke up suddenly. "It's not completely silent, but it's soothing and warm. It helps me think."

"Really?" Eri raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be able to work here at all. The background noise would be way too distracting."

Umi gave a shy smile, "That's true. I can see that in you. It's the opposite for me. If there isn't background noise I suddenly feel the need to make noise — which distracts me from what I'm doing. It's really just hard for me to get into it. But once I do, it's also hard to snap me out of it. I got into a couple of fights with Honoka and the others because of that."

"Wait, like, you fought with her because you were too concentrated on your songwriting?"

Umi sipped her coffee. "Well, this one time, I was writing down some lyrics and apparently, during that time Honoka had came in and asked me whether I thought curry shaved ice would be a good idea for dessert."

Eri's eyes widened. "No kidding?"

Umi nodded. "And apparently I had given her an enthusiastic 'go ahead' as well. Except I didn't hear her at all. I just subconsciously replied to her. So when I found out what she was up to afterwards… you could probably fill in the rest of the story." Umi finished, looking away from Eri and taking another sip of her coffee, blushing.

Eri grinned. "Well, you have got to feed the muse right?"

Umi tilted her head sheepishly. "Right."

"Do you write all the songs for your band?" Eri continued, encouraged. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Umi's eyes lit up.

Umi beamed proudly and shyly all at once. Curled fingers rose to brush her hair behind her ear. "I write most of the lyrics. But the others help me twist them around to fit the melody better and stuff. Maki does all the instrumentals. She's the amazing one. I mean— the melody matters way more than the lyrics do."

"That's not true!" Eri cut in, locking her eyes with Umi's. "The melody is important — I'll give you that — but the lyrics are what touches you in the heart. They are what give meaning to the song." Eri watched Umi's cheeks reddened. "And you write beautiful lyrics," Eri added for good measure.

"Um, thanks," Umi nodded, twirling her pen around in her hand. She smiled softly at Eri. "Thanks," Umi repeated. A muffled chime sounded, followed by a buzz. "Excuse me for a minute," Umi apologized to Eri and dug through her bag to take out her phone. She stared at the screen for a few minutes, frowning, before throwing the phone back in her bag.

"Is everything okay?" Eri asked cautiously.

Umi sighed, running her hands through her hair. "Yeah," Umi replied, unconvincingly. She fingered her coffee mug. "It's just— " Umi started, then stopped, thinking better of it. "I'm just tired."

Slowly, Eri reached out, placing her hand over Umi's and squeezing. "You can talk to me you know? I'm a really good listener."

A pause. "That was Honoka just now. We were going to go for dinner together except she cancelled since she and Kotori have a Skype-date," Umi confessed.

Eri frowned, becoming angry on Umi's behalf. "I'm sorry. That really sucks."

"Yeah," Umi deflated. "And I get it — I do. Long distance is really hard and Honoka and Kotori haven't been separated since the moment they've met. But I just feel really left out. Like, am I not as important?" As Umi's ire rose so did the tempo of her speech.

"Have they done this before?" Eri asked.

"A little. But before it would just be forgetfulness on Honoka's part. Like, she'd agree to go to a seminar with me only to remember a week later that Kotori was leading a fashion show on the same day and she had agreed to that as well. Or like, tag-a-longs. If I make plans with Honoka then I basically expect that half the time Kotori will also be there whether or not Honoka tells me in advance," Umi huffed. "And then I'm just the third wheel."

Eri winced. "Yeah, being the third wheel sucks."

"It does!" Umi exclaimed. After a moment, her righteous indignation faded away to a contorted expression of guilt. "But then I feel bad because I wish all the time that they had never gotten together — because then we could just all be best friends like we were before and I know that is extremely selfish on my part. I should be happy that they are happy… and most of the time, I'm not."

"You don't have to feel guilty for having feelings," Eri reassured. "They should feel bad about neglecting you, if anything." Eri bit her bottom lip in thought. "Have you talked to them about this?"

"No," Umi sang-song. "I know I should. But there's no point now that there's already a country in between them."

"What about… um, Maki? and Rin? You could always hang out with them."

"Yeah, it's not really the same though."

"What do you mean?"

"Honoka, Kotori and I have been friends since we were six years old. We met Maki and Rin because we recruited them for the band just a couple of years ago. I'm close to Maki and Rin, most definitely, but not to the extent that I am with Honoka and Kotori."

"Oh yeah, I get that," Eri nodded in sympathy.

"And plus, Maki is amazingly busy and Rin is ridiculously popular." Umi sighed. "Anyways, I'm sorry about boring you with this."

Eri waved away Umi's concern. "Hey, I am really happy that you confided in me. And it wasn't boring at all. You shouldn't invalidate your own feelings."

Umi blushed. "Right, thanks." Umi exhaled, then relaxed. She lifted her mug and finished off the last bit of her tea. "I feel so much better after talking to you. Thanks, really," Umi repeated, smiling gracefully at Eri. "Can I buy you another coffee?" Umi stole a glance at Eri's cup. "Or another drink maybe, since you've barely touched your latte at all?" Umi added with amusement.

"I'm actually just about coffee-d out today. This was actually my second cup," Eri admitted.

"No kidding," Umi raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you get so much?"

"I needed an excuse to stay here longer," Eri was candid with Umi. At Eri's response, Umi's complexion, which had just returned to its original fair-skinned tone, flared up once more. "You can buy me a drink another time though?" Eri added with a glimmer in her voice. Hopeful, it was.

"Or maybe dinner?" Umi suggested instead, "My dinner partner did skip out on me after all."

It was Eri's turn to blush and Eri's heart soared for just a minute before it crashed down to the land of obligations. "I would love to except that I do need to get home," Eri stole a quick glance at her watch and started to panic slightly. When did it get so late? There was no way she wasn't going to be late getting home. "I actually have to leave immediately, if possible. I need to make dinner for my sister, you see."

"Oh," Umi deflated. She was looking anywhere but at Eri, and that broke Eri's heart. "Right, of course you'd be busy. What was I thinking?"

"Can we do dinner next week or something?" Eri added quickly. "When are you free?"

"Um, same time next week?" Umi tossed out.

"That works for me. Do you want to meet here or— you know what? Can I have your number?" Eri's heart raced even faster, if that was even possible. She did her best to calm herself and to smile charmingly at Umi.

"Oh of course, um, here— just put your number in my phone," Umi said, handing her phone over to Eri.

Eri took it and punched the numbers in then handed it back to Umi. "Great! I'm so sorry I have to rush off," Eri said again, desperately not wanting the bassist to think Eri was blowing her off. "I really really enjoyed talking with you and would love to do this again sometime."

"I did too," Umi replied, her hands holding her phone firmly near her chest.

"Good," Eri smiled, before dashing off her chair and walking briskly, backwards, towards the cafe door. "See you then, next week!"

"See you."


	5. Chapter 5

"Why are you smiling so much? You're creeping me out," said Nico with an annoyed glare and a huff. Nico blew her bangs out of her face and sighed dramatically, leaning her head in her arms on the table. Nico had dropped by unexpectedly at Eri's house sometime after lunch.

Eri's eyes rolled over to inspect Nico, an eyebrow raising in question. Though Eri couldn't deny that she had been in an oddly good mood since meeting with Umi yesterday. It was actually the strangest feeling. It's not like Eri did anything particularly fun with Umi. It was a rather mundane setting and all they did was talk for a while.

And yet, Eri was still basking in its memory.

But, there was the niggling fact that Umi hadn't texted or phoned her back yet to finalize dinner plans. Eri shrugged that thought aside. Umi was probably just busy. And Eri did run out on her the other day. Eri would give it a bit more time. Umi was the one who had asked out her out to dinner in the first place.

Eri smiled to herself.

"You're doing it again," Nico groaned, face-palming. "I don't know if I can be around you right now."

Eri focused knowingly on Nico. "Okay, since you so obviously want me to ask: Nico, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Not really," Nico replied unconvincingly, shooting Eri a sideways glance. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay then, I respect your privacy," Eri intentionally backed-off, smirking to herself when Nico's eyes flashed. Eri and Nozomi had long since figured out how to handle Nico.

Nico lasted all of thirty seconds before squirming and giving in.

"Well since you want to know so badly, I guess I'll tell you," Nico preluded in her usual Nico way. "So you know Maki?"

Eri blinked. "The pianist you had a date with yesterday?" And one of Umi's best friends - Eri thought to herself.

"Yeah..." Nico trailed off, looking at Eri expectantly.

"...Did the date not go well?" Eri asked hesitantly.

"No! It went really well!" Nico exclaimed fervently, her expression brightening for a moment. "You know like how with some people you just click? It was so great. I thought it might be a bit awkward at first but it wasn't. Did you know she likes Metalica? I never expected that from her since she's so proper and classical piano and all that but she likes Metalica! I don't know anyone else who's a fan other than me."

Yeah, Eri wasn't too fond of Metalica either. "Okay...?" Eri said instead. "What's the problem then?"

"Well, um, you know," Nico fidgeted. "The date was going so well and the atmosphere was great and she was wearing this really sexy v-neck sweater so you know when she walked me to my apartment, I may have, kissed... her?" Nico blushed furiously.

"Okay?" Eri raised an eyebrow. "I'm still not seeing the problem here. It's not like you haven't kissed people Nico."

"I may or may not have gone even further than that..."

"...Wait," Eri blinked. "You mean you had sex with her?"

At that, Nico's face flooded with colour. "I couldn't help myself. She was just standing there being all pouty and defenseless-looking. And she did this run-her-hands-through-her-bangs thing that got me really turned on and-"

"Nico, calm down," Eri interrupted before Nico could go too far. Eri leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. "I still don't see the problem. As long as it was consensual everything sounds fine."

Nico turned a pleading look to Eri. "I had sex on the first date with her! How could you that everything's fine?!" Nico banged her head onto the table in self-pity. "She probably thinks I'm really easy now or something. Or that I only wanted some casual sex thing with her. Oh my god I'm so stupid. How could I have screwed this up?!"

"Woah, Nico. Slow down there," Eri reached out a hand to squeeze Nico's shoulder. "I think you're overthinking this a little."

"She left in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. And she didn't leave a note or anything. She just left. I had to check my wallet for the movie ticket to prove to myself that I hadn't imagined the whole date."

Eri paused. "Okay," Eri said slowly. "She may have just forgotten. Have you tried texting her or calling her at all?"

"Of course I did! Straightaway, in the morning, I left a really sweet message and asked her out on another date!" Nico replied indignantly. Soon though, she deflated. "But she still hasn't replied. And if I send more messages I'll seem pushy and stalker-y." Nico looked like she was about to cry. "Eri-chan, what do I do?"

Eri smiled sadly. She scooted her seat so that she was next to Nico and put her arms around her. "Hey, don't look like that. You're Nico! The super amazing awesome talented Nico. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

"Evidently not every girl," Nico said bitterly.

"Things like this happen," Eri soothed. "You'll be okay. And you never know, maybe you'll see her again and she'll have a perfectly sound explanation for how she's treating you."

Nico scoffed. "Sure she will. It'll be something like 'I had fun, but you're not my type'." Nico lay her head on Eri's shoulder. "This royally sucks."

"Want me to call Nozomi? She's probably better at giving you life advice than me."

"You can't. She has a huge audition tomorrow."

"Oh right. I knew that."

"I should go anyways. You need to pick up Elisa soon right?"

Eri glanced at her watch. "I've still got a bit of time."

"Nah, I feel better already," Nico replied as she stood up and stretched, making a show out of grinning as widely as she could. "Say hi to the midget for me." Nico said, turning her back to Eri and walking just slightly too fast to the door.

"Nico," Eri called out, prompting Nico to stop walking but not to turn around. "Stay over tonight," Eri invited. An unbidden thought pushed itself into Eri's mind: if Umi happened to call during the evening, Eri couldn't very well pick up the call. The selfish thought was followed by a stab of guilt and quickly ushered out of sight. Nico was a lifelong, important friend. Eri needed to treat her properly. "It'll be fun," Eri continued. "Elisa misses you. And I'm making lasagna," Eri added with a twinkle in her eye.

Nico hesitated at the door. After a long breath, she slipped out of her shoes and turned back around.


	6. Chapter 6

"Onee-chan?" the miniature version of Eri called out in surprise as she stuck her head out to peer over the corner of the wall. Strands of silvery hair slipped out from where they were tucked into her ears and a dainty hand came out to put them back into place. "Where's Hanayo-sempai? I thought you had plans today." Alisa questioned as she kicked off her shoes and skipped into the kitchen to stand behind Eri. Alisa inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. "That smells really good."

Eri looked endearingly at Alisa. "Sit down then. It's just about done," Eri said as she turned off the stove and begun untying her apron. "Did you have fun at Yukiho's?"

"Yeah, we got a lot done. I think we are a lot more productive in the mornings." Alisa, instead of sitting down at the dining table as Eri asked, went instead to the cupboards to take out the silverware and two plates. She set those neatly on the table and then went to the opposite cupboard to grab two mugs. "Tea? Darjeeling?" Alisa asked between Eri's nods of affirmations. "And also don't think I didn't notice that you totally avoided my question," Alisa said pointedly, casting a look Eri's way. The kind of look that said 'I'm smarter than you think I am'.

"My plans didn't end up panning out," Eri answered succinctly, bringing a plate piled with french toast over to the table. Eri hoped she had kept her tone light enough, even enough. Umi had never called or texted. Eri had spent the past week waiting despairingly for a text. Day by day passed by. And each day, the chances grew more bleak. What did it mean when you give a girl your number, but they never text you back? That they were too polite to decline in person — was the conclusion Eri had reached.

And yet, Eri was still warring with herself over whether or not to just show up at the coffee place… just in case. There could be a perfectly good reason why Umi hadn't called. Umi might have just lost Eri's number.

But Eri was human and rejection was a thing. Wasn't it better to leave well enough alone?

Still. The disappointment was bold and heavy. It weighted on Eri's mind like a chain constricting more every passing day. What was even worse was that Eri was conscious of the fact that she still carried her phone in her pocket — both the ringer and vibrate setting was turned on. Never before had Eri been so desperate for a phone call.

God. Eri was pathetic.

"Oh," Alisa had taken the bottle of maple syrup and was applying a generous amount to her toast. "That's too bad. I was excited for you."

Eri made a confused expression. "Excited for me why?"

"I thought you had a date or something. You were looking really happy for the last few days."

Eri smiled and reached over the table to pinch her baby sister's cheek. "If I wanted a date with a pretty girl, I would just drag you," Eri teased.

Alisa shrugged away from Eri's hold. "I'm being serious! You know what I mean!" Alisa pouted before stuffing a forkful of syrup-glazed french toast into her mouth. Then, she pointed the fork at Eri. "So? Was it a date? Did he cancel on you or something?"

Eri sighed. "It wasn't really a date. Just like, a get together sort of thing. And _she_ didn't cancel on me. We just never really made concrete plans," Eri finally explained in resignation. Alisa would not be giving up. "I asked for her number so we could finalize plans but she told me to give her my number instead. Then, she never called me." Eri tossed around the toast on her plate. "That's a rejection, right?"

Alisa gave Eri a sympathetic look. "Yeah, sorry sis. It does kind of sound like a rejection."

"I was thinking of just going over to the café where I met her anyways, just in case something happened to her phone or she lost my number or something…" Eri's voice trailed off in question.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Alisa shook her head. "If someone rejects you it can get kind of weird if you are too pushy about it."

Eri heaved. "Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Alisa leaned over. "Who was she? What's her name?"

"Does it matter?"

Alisa narrowed her eyes. "I'm just curious. Tell me!" Alisa whined. Eri was silent. "You're being sketchy! What difference does it make?"

"Umi," Eri answered.

"Last name?"

"I don't know it."

Alisa gaped at Eri. "How am I supposed to look this girl up if you don't give me any information?"

"Don't look her up then!"

"Onee-chan! Just tell me!" Alisa's eyes flashed. "I'm supposed to look up any of your potential suitors! I'm your sister!"

"My little sister. Emphasis on 'little'." Eri groaned. "Um," Eri rolled her eyes around in thought. "She's in a band called Muse. She's the bassist."

Alisa choked. Her fork fell onto her plate in a loud clang as she rushed to get her mug. Eri stood up and walked around to rub Alisa's back until the fit calmed down. Yet, as soon as it had, Alisa reared around to grab Eri's arms tightly. "Did you say Umi from Muse?" Eri nodded. "The bassist? Long black hair? Really smooth voice?"

Eri nodded once again. "What? Are you a fan?"

Alisa's eyes flashed. "Am I a fan? Are you kidding me?" Alisa shook Eri pretty forcefully for someone of her stature. "Don't you remember when I got you to drive me to the record shop at five AM because I wanted to get one of the limited edition albums from Muse?"

Eri stilled. "I remember driving you to get a CD of some sort. I guess I didn't pay attention to the artist."

Alisa was grinning. "Oh my god. I can't believe you have a date with Umi! She's my favourite. She's like really quirky, but shy and smart and all of that good stuff. Aw, Onee-chan, you have good taste in girls! I totally approve!" Alisa got up and pushed passed Eri.

"Firstly of all, not a date. Secondly: Gee, that makes me feel so good since she, you know, rejected me and everything," Eri called after Alisa sarcastically — but all in good humour.

"Oh, right," Alisa paused. "I take that back. She probably didn't reject you. You should go to the café or wherever you said you would meet." Alisa said as she plopped the laptop she had retrieved from her bag onto the kitchen table.

"You're the one who said she rejected me!" Eri exclaimed.

"Yeah but, that's before I knew the whole story!" Alisa retorted. "Umi Sonoda is notoriously famous for being bad at replying to texts and phone calls and all that." Alisa was furiously typing into her computer. "It's not just you she doesn't reply to. It's everyone."

"That's not true! I saw her text Hono—" Eri stopped mid sentence as her mind brought back the memory of meeting Umi at the café. That's right. When Honoka had texted Umi, Umi only read the text — she never texted back. Umi read the text… then she threw her phone back into her purse. Eri's heart started pounding at the revelation.

Hope. Just a sliver but it was there. And Eri couldn't bring herself to extinguish it.

"Wait a minute, how would you know this about Umi?" Eri snapped back to attention.

Alisa smirked. "The fans know everything," she replied with a mischievous expression. "That and Muse uploads vlogs to Youtube. They got their start off YouTube after all."

"Really?" Eri was surprised. She scooted her seat next to Alisa's. "Can I see?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Onee-chan?" Alisa stuck her tongue out at her sometimes so very impatient older sister. Hitting the enter key with finality, Alisa angled the laptop a bit more towards Eri. "You can have fun with this." Alisa offered, getting out of her seat and gathering her plate. "Go to the café okay? If you miss out a chance to be with Umi because of a stupid misunderstanding, I will seriously cry."

Eri nodded absentmindedly, too absorbed in the video. "Right, right."

Alisa rolled her eyes and begun doing dishes.

"Wait! You watched all of her videos?" Eri paused her video and turned intently to Alisa.

"I guess, just about. I might have missed a few."

"Then do you know if she's gay?" Eri asked, "Or bi?".

Alisa stopped to think. She turned around to answer Eri. "You know what? She never actually mentioned anything officially."

"Oh," Eri deflated. "Because she gives off a pretty straight vibe."

"Yeah, I get that too." Alisa gave Eri a consoling shrug. "None of them ever gave a statement or anything about their sexualities or romantic life in general. The only reason we got to know about Kotonoka was because they were pretty public about their displays of affection. Oh! And Rin! The drummer— she announced that she was ace to support asexual awareness and stuff." Alisa turned back to doing the dishes. "There's still hope. You give off a pretty straight vibe too."

Eri nodded then turned back to the videos.

"Right. So there's hope."


	7. Chapter 7

Umi was really cute.

Like. Impossibly cute. Eri had scientifically determined that from the vlogs. It seemed that there was an unwritten code that one of the band members needed to make Umi blush at least once in each of the videos. Well — of the videos she was in. Honoka was the lead vlogger. But while Honoka was charming in her own right, Eri skipped through to the clips of Umi.

So far, Eri's favourite video had been the one where the band forced Umi into an outfit that Kotori had made. The outfit had consisted of a tiered brown skirt with a baggy basic white tee — the sleeves worked only halfway down her arms. Kotori had fastened a belt around her waist as a final touch. But then rushed out only to come back with earnings and a makeup purse. Umi in knee-high socks and pouty-shy was definitely a beautiful picture. It was adorably sexy — if those two adjectives could even work together.

"Oh calm down would you? Don't be such a baby," says Maki roughly, her voice distinctive through the background chatter in the video. She had been leaning against the corner wall watching the scene rather dispassionately. "Umi, for crying out loud. You look fine— really beautiful actually!"

Umi only blushes more furiously at that. She tries to swat away Kotori's hands that are poking around at her outfit, hair and makeup.

So, Umi is just the type that blushes easily. Eri twirled around a strand of her hair, continuing to watch the scene as an unsettling feeling seeps into her gut. Eri stopped herself from scrolling down and reading the comments. She made that mistake in the first couple of videos.

It wasn't Umi's stardom that bothered Eri. No. From Eri's conversation at the café the other day, Umi seemed just like any other normal university girl. She just happened to be a really talented musician at the same time.

There were a lot of shippers. A lot of very loud shippers.

"Onee-chan? What are you still doing here?" Alisa interrupts before Eri could dwell on the thought any longer. "Don't you have a date?"

"It's not a date!" Eri retorts immediately. "What time is it?"

"Five after five?"

Eri blinked. When did that happen? Just a minute ago she was having lunch with Alisa. Crap. When did she and Umi agree to meet? Eri quickly stood up. "I don't think we ever specified a time…" Eri rambled on quickly, rushing to the nearest mirror. "Crap. I can't meet her like this!" Last week, Eri had run into Umi in the café around half past four. But, they had decided on dinner this week. And dinner is normally later right? It could have been as late as seven. But dinner that late is normally a date, and this wasn't exactly a date…? Eri didn't know! Oh crap. Fuck. Gah. Would she still be waiting? What if she thought Eri had stood her up?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Onee-chan!" Alisa grabbed Eri's arm and shoved some clothes into her chest. "Snap out of it and get changed," Alisa ordered sternly, rolling her eyes. "You're supposed to be the dependable one!" Alisa muttered under her breath.

Eri was too stressed to reply.

* * *

Please still be there. Please still be there. Or better yet, come but don't have come yet. Please, god, please. Eri didn't know who she was praying to. Anyone who was listening. If there was anyone listening. Eri had never been the religious type but she figured right about now it couldn't hurt.

Eri hand rested on the café doorknob. The free hand fiddled around for her phone. A quarter to six. Ah shit. If Umi had come at four, then Eri had made her wait two hours.

Clack. The door swung open and Eri crashed into… someone whose hair smelled really good. Coconuts and vanilla or something.

"I'm so sor—" the familiar voice stopped abruptly.

Eri's heart started pounding. Umi was staring back at her. She was dressed in ripped skinny jeans and an purple top with some intricate embroidered design. Her was expression blank and her phone was being held to her ear.

Eri tried to speak but no thoughts would form. Umi looked way too good in those skinny jeans.

"Maki, never mind. She showed up." Umi spoke calmly into her phone though her eyes were kept trained on Eri. "No, it's alright. No," Umi's voice took on a rather emotionless tone. "I'll be fine. Yeah. I'll talk to you soon. Bye." Umi put her phone away and crossed her arms.

"I know I'm late," Eri's voice found itself finally, "I can explain."

Umi hesitated.

"Please," Eri added.

Finally, Umi nodded. She backed away from Eri, stepping into the café. Eri followed her to the corner table by the fireplace that they had occupied last week. Umi didn't wait for Eri to catch up. Instead, the bassist simply plopped herself down on her seat.

Slowly, Eri pulled out her own seat and sat herself down. "At first I really wasn't going to come— not because I didn't want to!" Eri added quickly when Umi's eyes widened. Crap. That probably wasn't the best thing to open with. Crap. Crap. "I thought you had rejected me," Eri explained. The words were being pushed out of her slowly, carefully. Eri needed to do this right. "I was waiting all week for you to text or to phone to finalize details since I gave you my number and everything. And since you didn't call, I thought that you didn't actually want to see me." Eri smiled nervously at Umi, who still had yet to react. "I was really disappointed that you didn't call but I didn't want to be a stalker and push my feelings on to you." Umi was still. "My sister was the one who actually convinced me to come. She's a huge fan and so she told me that apparently you just don't like texting and calling people back and that I shouldn't take it personally and I should just come." Eri mentally berated herself. She was rambling! She needed to stop that. Be mature, cool. "You look really good by the way."

Umi's eyes watered over.

Fuck. "Oh my god, um, please don't cry." Eri shot up from her seat to circle around to Umi's side of the table. Eri thumbed away a tear on Umi's cheek. "I'm being honest. Really. I honestly didn't want to stand you up. I just got a little confused. Oh god. Please don't cry."

"I did call," Umi laughed through her tears. She was using her sleeves to dab away at her eyes but the tears just didn't seem to stop.

Eri blinked. "What? I—"

"I got the 'this phone number doesn't exist' message. I thought you had accidentally gave me a wrong number because you rushed off so fast last week and started to panic because I didn't know how to reach you. But then, I told Maki about it and she told me that you probably purposely gave me a wrong number so that I wouldn't be able to see you again—" Umi choked on her words. She had given up trying to stop her tears. "I'm sorry— I'm not usually like this. I'm just so relieved!"

"No, it's okay," Eri soothed gently, pulling her seat closer to Umi's. Eri took Umi's hand and squeezed. "I'm just really happy you showed up after all of that," Eri stated firmly. "And for the record, it was definitely an accident. I was seriously glued to my phone every minute this last week waiting for you to call."

Umi chuckled nervously. "I believe you. Maki's really mad at you though. Especially since this was the first time I asked anybody out on a date. I'll have to explain this to her later…" Umi's voice trailed off as she realized what she just said. She pulled her hands out of Eri's grasp and looked away, blushing furiously. "Not that this is a date. You probably aren't even gay. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Umi's voice was monotonic. Her phrases came out rhythmically.

Butterflies scattered in all directions in Eri's stomach. "Can this be a date?"

There was a pause before Umi spoke. The bassist's jaw had dropped as Umi processed the question. Slowly, the pretty girl came to her senses. Umi wiped away the remaining tears and completely composed herself. "Yes," it was a calm and husky voice. "I'd really like that."

Eri beamed like she had won the world.


	8. Chapter 8

"Stop laughing!" Eri ordered Umi whilst continuing to laugh herself. The two of them had walked over to a restaurant nearby that Umi had recommended — talking all the way. It turned out that the two of them actually had a lot in common. They went to the same university although they were in different departments. They liked the same style of music. They were both absolutely terrified with horror films. They were both living in their own spaces without their parents. Although Umi was rooming with Honoka and previously Kotori whereas Eri was taking care of her sister. Umi was the self-designated barista at her home whereas Eri was a halfway decent chef. "I mean it— stop!" When Umi tried unsuccessfully to smother her giggles into a grin, Eri waded up her unused napkin and threw it at the bassist. "I was definitely not that bad!"

"Oh no, you totally were," Umi retorted, taking the napkin off her lap and unfolding it onto the table. "At first, I was amazed that someone as pretty as you was coming up to talk to me. And then, I started mentally groaning because you were just staring at me with your mouth open saying absolutely nothing!"

Eri pouted, pausing to stuff the last forkful of noodles into her mouth. "Okay, so I admit I didn't make the best first impression. You can't blame me. You're so adorable. Anyone would lose their breath."

Umi blushed. Then, she made a show of rolling her eyes. "You are a huge flirt," the bassist stated, shaking her head.

"Are you just now realizing?" Eri asked cheekily, cocking her eyebrows. "Damn, I'm losing my touch."

"Were you flirting with me back at the café?" Umi asked, taking a sip of her water and pushing her empty plate aside.

Eri blinked. "I probably was. I don't know. I was trying to be charming at the very least. I wanted you to like me."

"I still can't believe you're gay," Umi shook her head at herself, smiling. "God, you are amazing."

Ah. There is was. The moment of truth. Eri clenched her hands so forcefully that her knuckles turned white. "About that," Eri's voice shook. This wouldn't have be the first time a girl who shows interest in Eri rejects her over her sexuality. It wouldn't be so bad if Umi changed her mind, would it? Better to know sooner than later. If Umi was going to be biphobic like the rest of Eri's exes, it was better for Eri to know now. "Technically, I'm actually bi."

Eri held her breath.

"Oh, that makes more sense," Umi nodded to herself. "I can see you being bi."

Eri blinked. That was it? That couldn't be it.

Umi looked puzzled. "What couldn't be it?"

"Did I say that out loud?" Eri gaped, wide-eyed.

Umi smiled slightly. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, it's just, your reaction was so refreshing. I'm a little shell-shocked."

Umi was scuffling her toe around underneath the table, "How do people normally react?" Umi asked quietly.

"I don't know," Eri swirled around her drink in her glass. "Normally there's a lot more questioning and disbelief. One girl I told asked me when I would be ready to come out as fully gay — that was a shock. Another date I had just got up and left telling me to call him when I had made up my mind. My ex broke up with me because she couldn't deal with worrying that I'll leave her for a guy… so this is just… really different."

A small hand enveloped Eri's, prompting Eri to look up into round, caring eyes. "I'm sorry they hurt you," Umi smiled kindly. "I speak on behalf of the smarter, less prejudice half of the world— they were so utterly stupid."

Time seemed to simultaneously slow and accelerate. Eri didn't dare move for fear of breaking the moment. Eri just watched the light dance around Umi. Watched the small twitch of the bassist's lip as it pulled into a lopsided smile. Or the way Umi's eyes fluttered twice once in every so many blinks. Felt Umi's thumb rubbing soothing circles over Eri's hand.

God. This girl was beautiful.

"Excuse me," a voice that was neither Eri's nor Umi's interrupted the moment. Eri snapped to attention to see their waitress sporting a sympathetic expression. "I'm afraid the restaurant is closing soon…" her voice trailed off passively.

"Oh right. We'll take the check please," Umi nodded — seemingly unfazed. "We were already finished."

"Cash or card?" the waitress responded immediately, having prepared the check in advance. She handed it to Umi.

"Card," Umi said with authority, glancing over the check quickly and handing it back with a shiny red credit card.

"Hey wait," Eri spoke up then. "I can pay for this," Eri started digging through her bag for her wallet.

"Eri," Umi smiled, a hand coming up to rest on Eri's arm and the other firmly pushing her card towards the waitress. "I've got this." After the waitress nodded and rushed away with Umi's card, Umi shot Eri a look. "I asked you out. So I'm paying," Umi asserted.

"Technically I asked you out," Eri shot back in good humour.

"Nope. I asked you out first to thank you for listening to me complain. You just changed the venue from drinks to dinner," Umi grinned.

"I made it an official date! If it weren't for me, we both would have gone home thinking this was just a friendly get-together!" Eri retorted, chuckling.

Umi stroked her chin in mock-consideration. "Nope. I still think I win."

At that point the waitress came back. Umi signed off the receipt and Eri took out a few bills from her wallet. The two of them thanked the restaurant staff and headed outside. Eri held the door open for Umi which made Umi blush.

"So," Umi started, her feet shuffling about the ground and her hands rubbing together to fend off the cold.

Eri didn't want to part ways just yet. "Do you maybe want to come over?"

Umi blinked — her movements stilled.

"Not for anything weird," Eri amended, running her hands through her hair. "Just for maybe a drink. And to meet my sister. Like I said, she's a huge fan."

"Well," Umi's lips curled outward slowly. "Anything for a fan."

* * *

"We've actually met once before." Umi revealed at one point in their never-ceasing conversation as Eri pulled the car into the underground parking lot.

Eri's jaw dropped. She quickly glanced at Umi before turning back to the road. Her hands were gripped firmly on the steering wheel. "We have? I think I would have remembered."

"Well," Umi dragged the word out, "Maybe 'meet' is the wrong word. But you came to sit in on one of my business classes this one time."

Eri put the car in reverse and smoothly backed the car into her spot. "Um, I think I remember doing something like that last year. Some Econ course right?" At Umi's nod, Eri continued, not making a move to get out of the car, "No way, you remembered me from that? I didn't speak to anyone in that class."

Umi blushed. "Well, the blonde hair made you rather noticeable," Umi answered quietly. "Is this it?" Umi followed up, unbuckling her seat belt.

"Yes, I'm up in the penthouse." Eri unlocked the car doors and stepped out. Umi followed suit. "My sister is going to be ecstatic when she sees you. Be prepared."

Umi laughed. "No worries. I've had my share of crazy fans. Your sister can't be the worst of them."

"Really now?" Eri raised an eyebrow, "What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done?" Eri asked as she pushed the button to call for the elevator.

"Hm, I don't know. Rin gets the craziest fans. Honoka and Kotori get the shippers. Maki's fans worship the ground she walks on. In comparison, my fans are actually pretty normal," Umi discussed aloud. The elevator arrived and Umi stepped in after Eri.

Eri bumped Umi's shoulder. "I'm sure you've got some story."

"Once, a fan somehow got ahold of my phone and then started following themselves on my accounts apparently so I would notice them and stuff," Umi stifled a grin. "Except their plan sort of backfired because I never went on those social media sites ever to begin with so I didn't notice until way after— when Honoka was playing around with my phone or something."

Eri grinned. "That's classic. You beat them at their own game," Eri stepped out as the elevator dinged and into a doorway. She leaned over to pull off her shoes. "This is my place." Eri welcomed, pulling her eyes out of her pocket and unlocking the door.

"I'm a bit nervous," Umi admitted, kicking off her own shoes.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure Alisa will like you more than she likes me," Eri reassured. She slapped on the lights in the living room. That was strange. Alisa couldn't be asleep already, could she? Eri walked further into the room and her eyes fell upon a note.

_Onee-chan~ I'm sleeping over at Yukiho's today. I also brought over the spaghetti you made. So you have fun on your date!_

Alisa had signed the note.

Cheeky little sister.


	9. Chapter 9

"Is this what I think it is?"

Eri whirled around to see Umi holding up a piece of Eri's history. It was a violin case— a rather dusty one at that. Eri just laughed nervously. "Oh god, I should have hid that away."

"You play violin?" Umi looked eagerly up at Eri. "For how long? Since when? Play something!"

Eri gave Umi a hopeless look. "I haven't played in three years or so. I probably don't even remember how."

"Please?" Umi pleaded. "Anything is fine. You can even play _Hot Crossed Buns_. I'm not picky."

Eri let out a resigned sigh. She took the violin case from Umi, gingerly dusted it off and opened it. "I can't believe I'm doing this. You should feel honoured."

"I do. I feel so honoured." Umi repeated, nodding with eager eyes.

Eri's body went through the motions. She lifted the bow from the case and tightened the strings. Then, she took out the small square of rosin and applied it to the strings. Up and down the length of the bow for three or four strokes. Eri balanced the bow around in her hand, getting used to its weight and balance. It was only then that she took out the violin, blowing off a bit of the dust before setting it on her shoulder. "Plug your ears," Eri advised. "It's probably terribly out of tune."

Umi just smiled.

A. Or at least, the string should have been an A. As it was, it sounded nothing like the crisp airy tone it should have been. Out of the corner of Eri's eye, the blonde saw Umi flinch at the nail-curling sound. "Sorry," Eri apologized as she fiddled with the pegs until the tone was bearable, then, switched to the fine-tuners.

"Do you have perfect pitch?" Umi asked when Eri was moving on the next strings. The violinist was playing them in chords.

Eri laughed. "Oh god no. But I've tuned to A enough times to guess it out half-decently— and by half-decently I mean give or take a major second or so."

"Ah, I got excited there for a moment."

"You want to meet somebody with perfect pitch?"

"Nah, Honoka has perfect pitch. I was just wondering." Umi clapped her hands. "Okay now play!"

Eri shook her head at herself. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Shush, just play."

So Eri closed her eyes and let her bow float down onto the string.

The motions came back to her as though Eri was the instrument, and the violin the musician. Easy. Effortlessly. As though the music was playing her. A slow rubato melody that flowed up and down the strings, jumping pitches every so often and yet still just… gliding.

Ah crap. That was the wrong note. The music stopped abruptly. C sharp? D? Nope. Eri fiddled with a few other notes trying to get back into the melody yet found that she couldn't even remember how the piece began. Finally just gave up and grinned flippantly at Umi. "Okay, that's enough for today."

Umi was staring. "Eri. That was beautiful. What was that?"

"Some Bach Partita," Eri informed, starting to pack the violin away. "Don't really remember. I just always referred to it as 'that Bach piece'."

"You… wow. Just wow." Umi was speechless. The violin case was zipped shut, locking the instrument away. "Why did you stop playing?"

"I couldn't remember the rest of the piece."

"No I mean like," Umi made a motion with her hands, "In general. In violin as a whole. Why did you stop?"

"I just never really liked playing that much," Eri shrugged, growing a bit uncomfortable.

"But you play so well. You must have had at least eight years of training. Probably more. You're at Maki's level in piano."

"Umi," Eri grabbed the bassist's hand and pulled her onto a nearby couch. "I had a love-hate relationship with that violin and hate won out in the end. So can we change the subject?"

Umi pondered that question for a good moment. "Okay, for now. But eventually you are going to explain this to me. And! You need to promise to play for me again." Umi relented finally.

Eri rolled her eyes. "Sing for me then," Eri shot back. "You have the most amazing voice."

Umi flushed and looked away. "Singing is embarrassing."

Eri smirked. "It's a fair trade then." Eri thought about it a bit more. "Except it's not really. You sing and preform all the time on stage so it's probably nothing to you!"

Umi shoved Eri playfully on the shoulder. "Deal."

At that point, Umi's phone started ringing.

"Go ahead, pick it up," Eri nodded when Umi hesitated. "I'm going to make myself some tea. Would you like a cup?" Eri got up from the couch.

"Sure, thanks," Umi replied gratefully before picking up the phone call.

When Eri returned with two steaming cups of tea, Umi had put on her shoes and was standing by the door.

"Sorry Eri, I have to run. There's a bit of a family emergency."

Eri frowned and set down the mugs. "Can I help? Let me drive you at least."

Umi smiled. "No it's okay, I can take a cab."

Eri quickly slipped into her sneakers. "Really? There's no need. I really don't mind. I'd feel better actually."

"I—" Umi looked ready to decline but seemed to decide against it. "Okay, yes please. Thank you. I appreciate it."

What happened?" Eri asked, grabbing her keys and hitting the call button for the elevator.

"It's not really that big a deal. Honoka is just out at a party and got herself a little drunk. I just need to pick her up and bring her home."

"Ah, sounds good then."

"This isn't really like her," Umi's voice took on a touch of defensiveness. "She normally doesn't drink more than a single glass. And she doesn't usually stay out this late either." Umi stepped into the elevator.

"What time is it?"

"A little after one."

"No kidding?" Eri raised an eyebrow at Umi. "Already?"

At that, Umi's expression melted into an endearing gaze. "Yeah. It feels like we've only been talking for an hour or so."

"Ah, before I forget," Eri held out her hand. "Let me put in my real number into your phone this time."

"Oh me too," Umi replied, setting her phone onto Eri's open palm and making a 'gimme' motion with the other. Eri fished the phone out of her pocket and gave it to Umi. "Check over the phone number this time!" Umi teased.

"Yes, yes," Eri nodded, typing in the number as she stepped out of the elevator and started walking towards her car. "There," Eri smiled, giving Umi's phone back to the bassist.

"And yours," Umi replied in turn. She fidgeted afterwards. Her expression somber. "Just so you know, I am actually really bad at replying to text messages and phone calls. It's not that I don't want to talk to people. It's just that some times I don't feel like it or I'll start doing something else and just forget and stuff so please don't take that personally." Umi pleaded, her finger tapping anxiously on her arm. "It's an introvert thing. I just need to recharge."

"Hey, no worries," Eri eased, opening the car door. "I get it. You just need space sometimes."

"Exactly. Right."


	10. Chapter 10

Honoka was an unbelievably talented singer - even when drunk. She was belting out the notes to Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" on the karaoke stage at the rear of the bar. Her tone was crystal clear although the lead vocalist was slurring her words slightly. That was the detail that confirmed to Eri that Honoka was indeed drunk. Well, that, and Honoka's increasingly outlandish dance moves. Eri found Honoka's performance rather amusing.

Umi did not share that opinion. She charged forward seemingly to drag the vocalist off the stage mid-act.

"Wait," Eri grabbed Umi's arm.

"What?" Umi snapped back testily. The bassist's eyes widenned and backtracked immediately. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just meant that-"

"Shh," Eri hushed. "It's alright. I just wanted you to wait until she's finished with this song. We don't want to cause a scene."

"Umi?" Honoka's voice blasted through the crowd as the instrumentals to the song continued playing. "My bestest friend Umi!" Honoka laughed gleefully and gestured grandly for Umi to get on the stage with her. "You," Honoka dragged out the word in playful accusation, "Are very late!"

With that announcement, all eyes settled on Umi, who froze at the sudden spotlight. The bassist shot panicked, deer-in-headlights, eyes at Eri who could only shrug. The crowd had begun clapping and chanting Umi's name. There didn't seem to be a graceful exit strategy that allowed Umi to extricate Honoka from the stage without singing with her.

But Umi didn't move towards the stage. She stayed rooted to the spot. Her hands clenched tighly around Eri's arm.

Oh god. Eri couldn't believe she was going to do this.

Eri stroked Umi's shoulder before putting on a cocky grin and shouting to the crowd. "How about everybody sings for the last chorus?" Eri enthused. The violinist put her hands together and clapped to the beat of the ongoing instrumentals. "Honoka you have to kick us off!" Eri commanded to the powerful, though intoxicated, presence onstage.

Spurred by Eri's command, Honoka beamed and harnessed the microphone in a flourish. Crystal clear vocals fired through the air. True to the singer's infectious aura, the soulful singing was like a catalyst. No more than a lyric in, distinct voices began bubbling up from certain circles in the crowd. The reaction spread outward colliding and redirecting until the entire audience was chanting the lyrics like a battle cry. The pitches were so dissonant the melody was lost. The beats were as mismatched as the pitter-patter of rain. But the spirit of the song had been summoned.

Any true musician knows it is that which is the most important.

A tender caress on Eri's arm.

The blonde turned to see white teeth bitting rosy lips. A dainty hand being lifted to brush away stray strands from soft skin. Eyes fluttering shyly… changing from maroon to silver-blue to hazel and so forth under the flashing lights.

A sudden awareness that the blasting cheer in the background had been replaced by the thunder of her own heart.

This girl was beautiful.

The lips moved. Words. Eri didn't catch any of them.

A now-familiar lopsided smile. A sheepish, unsure grin. A seemingly silent laugh.

Umi was so beautiful.

Eri leaned forward and kissed her. Briefly yet firmly. Gently and with care. When the blonde pulled back unhurriedly, it was with butterflies in her stomach, fireworks in her mind and electricity crackling in her heart… as well as an insistent desire to dive in for just another touch.

Then perhaps another. And another following that. And another for as long as Umi would allow.

"That, um," the bassist let out a nervous laugh. "Wow, um, well," Umi continued to stutter in her adorable way. Now-amber eyes flittered shut and Umi took a breath. It was a moment before she spoke. "I… am going to go get Honoka now," the sentence was spoken in fragments— as though it were still processing as Umi spoke. "Wait here. Don't leave."

Eri nodded and watched Umi's retreating back as the bassist shouldered her way to the stage. The violinist tentatively raised her hand to her heart. She willed it to slow.

* * *

"Umi!" Honoka partly sang, partly shouted, into the night air. Eri was thankful they had gotten Honoka into the car before Honoka began acting up. Eri could only imagine the scene the three of them would have caused with Honoka yelling at the top of her lungs. The vocalist was strapped into the back car seat and had wrapped her arms tightly around Umi's neck in a starfish-koala type hug. "My all-time favourite person in the world!" The singer professed, slurring all her words and giggling profusely.

"I thought that was Kotori," Umi responded calmly. She had, refusing help from Eri, single-handedly dragged Honoka out onto the sidewalk, up to where Eri had parked the car and shoved the brunette into the back. Every so often, the bassist would shoot sorry eyes at Eri through the rearview mirror. Every time, the violinist would shake her head and give Umi a genuine, if not slightly amused, smile.

"Her too! I love my Kotori," Honoka tittered and gave an exaggerated nod. "And I love you too! My Umi!"

Umi rolled her eyes and met eyes again with Eri. "Whatever you say, Honoka." Umi responded without breaking Eri's gaze.

"Promise you'll always be mine?" Honoka pleaded to Umi with goofy wide eyes.

"Promise promise," Umi agreed easily. "Oh! Just turn left here," Umi signalled to Eri. When Eri rounded the corner, "We are in the blue apartment there," Umi continued. "So if you could just pull over anywhere really." Eri followed the instructions. "This is great," Umi nodded, opening her car door. "Let me just get Honoka upstairs. Do you think you could wait here until I come back? I'm so sorry about all this."

"No worries. I don't mind," Eri nodded and shut off the ignition. "Take your time."

"Right. Thank you again. Really," Umi smiled gratefully as she detached Honoka's seatbelt and guided the brunette out of the car. "I will just be a moment."

With that, the bassist shut the car door.

Eri reached for her phone. She dialled the first contact listed in her favourites and waited. A quick glance at the watch on Eri's wrist showed that it was well past one in the morning. Phoning someone at this time was extremely inconsiderate.

But Eri absolutely needed to talk to somebody.

After the seventh right, just as Eri's guilt was about to win over, the call connected.

"Eri?" a groggy voice yawned.

"Nozomi!" Eri gasped. "I need your help."

"With what?" Nozomi sighed, her voice still low and sluggish.

"I think I might really like her," Eri didn't know where to begin. "Like actually really really like her. What the heck should I do?"

"The hell Eri?" Nozomi replied with irritation. "This is what you called me for? Do you know what time it is? I have roll-call at five tomorrow… today."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll treat you to a parfait later, okay? Please. I need to talk to someone. I'm going crazy. My heart is still beating five times as fast as usual. I thought I was going to crash the car on the way home. I don't know what to do!"

"I don't know either!" Nozomi exclaimed. "Just do whatever you want!"

"She's like actually perfect. She looks and dresses really chic-cool but then you talk to her and she's actually an adorable ball of dorky-cuteness. You should see the way her face lights up when she gets excited about something. And she's super smart but also really thoughtful, and caring and… soulful? I don't know. I don't have words for her. She absolutely amazing."

Nozomi sighed heavily into the phone. "Okay, so? What do you want me to say?"

"Advice! I need you to give me advice. I really want her to like me." Eri pleaded.

There was a pause. "You do realize you are asking your ex-girlfriend for advice on how to woo your current crush right?"

Eri froze. She came crashing back down to earth. "I thought we were still friends," Eri sat up straight. "You were my best friend before we dated and I thought we agreed to be best friends after we broke up. Don't best friends call each other for relationship advice?"

Silence. Eri held her breath but only heard faint rustling.

"I don't think of you as my ex-girlfriend, Nozomi. I think of you as my best friend." Eri continued to explain. "Aren't we friends?" Eri's tone grew urgent.

"Do you want me to be honest?" Nozomi's voice finally came through the line. But… it was different somehow. It was… less. Lacking in strength, lacking in confidence.

"Of course I want you to be honest," Eri replied with fondness but also a deep sense of foreboding.

A deep breath. "I can't think of you as my friend, let alone my best friend."

Eri's heart dropped to her stomach. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I'm still in love with you."

An eruption of emotions. But the loudest one by far was red anger.

"Excuse me?!"

"You sound mad."

"Because I am!"

"Maybe we should talk later."

"No. No! Don't you dare hang up on me!"

"We can't talk properly if you are caught up in your emotions."

"You. Broke. Up. With. Me!" Eri cried, slamming her fist into the steering wheel. "I gave you my entire heart and you just tore it to pieces! Without a care in the world! Whilst shoving the 'you are still my best friend' card in my face! You have no right to say that. Absolutely no right!"

"Okay look. I wasn't going to argue with you but I will say this one thing." Nozomi's voice was level, but not calm. "Yes. I was the one who ended it. But that doesn't mean I didn't love you. The only thing that means is that I made a mistake! A mistake that I will pay for everyday for the rest of my life!"

With that, there an audible click followed by a dial tone.


	11. Chapter 11

The passenger-side door was opened like how one would place a blanket over a sleeping toddler - quietly so as not to disturb, but with tenderness and caring. The bassist slipped into the passenger seat and then shut the door. She didn't speak for a while. Instead, she waited with her hands in her lap and her gaze staring at some imaginary point in the distance. Every so often, Umi would shift slightly to check up on the silently crying figure in the adjacent seat. But otherwise, Umi did nothing.

"I'm sorry," Eri said finally. Tears continuing to flow from the corners of her azure eyes. Yet, they fell with no sound. The morose expression was the only indicator that moonlight sparkles hadn't chosen Eri as their ballroom for the night.

"There is nothing that you need to feel sorry for," Umi soothed, reaching over with a hand to brush blonde bangs away from Eri's shiny eyes. Umi then rested her hand at the back of Eri's nape, prompting Eri to look at the younger woman.

"How much did you hear?" Eri's eyes were unsure of where to settle.

"None of it," Umi assured. "I saw you on the phone but I couldn't hear anything from outside."

Eri nodded. She raised the palms of her hands to dab away the wetness around her eyes. Then, the blonde leaned forward to rest her forehead on Umi's shoulder and simply closed her eyes, took deep breaths. The violinist sighed when Umi wrapped her arms around Eri's vulnerable frame. "I didn't want you to see me like this," Eri laughed bitterly. "Who wants to date an emotional wreck?"

"You are not an emotional wreck," Umi comforted, running her fingers through Eri's hair. "You just have emotions that you are not afraid to express openly." Um drew back and cupped the sides of Eri's face with her hands, thumbing away the last of the tears. "And frankly," Umi added, "I really like that about you." The sentence was delivered in a whisper flourished with a conspiratorial twinkle.

Although Umi's response was surely spoken in attempt to calm Eri, it only caused Eri to cry more. Again, Umi said nothing. The bassist simply held Eri and waited until every last tear had been shed. There were no words. Just a mutual understanding that this moment was sacred. Eri felt safer than she ever had before.

"I got into a fight with my best friend," Eri confessed finally when her tears were dry and her emotions placated. "We've been friends since the beginning of high school. And suddenly, she tells me she can't be my friend anymore."

"Mmmm," Umi hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"We dated for a year. And then she broke up with me — we were much better off as friends. We would get into fights all the time when we were dating over stupid things. You know when I told you my ex-girlfriend left me because she couldn't deal with the fact that I might leave her for a man? This is her. She'd get mad at me whenever I corrected people who thought I was a lesbian. Apparently, since I was dating her — that made me gay. And if I said I was bi, I was admitting to wanting to leave her for a man. It was so stupid and it made me feel terrible. Like she couldn't trust me you know? And like she just couldn't accept me…" Eri's expression twisted painfully. "But you know what was the worst thing?" Eri's voice broke. "I loved her so much that I just went with it. She was my best friend. I stopped telling people I was bi and just said I was gay. Because maybe she was right? It was just a label. And I was so sure she would be the last person I would date. Ha." Eri was grim. "It didn't even matter. She broke it off anyway."

"Baby," Umi soothed, rubbing circles with her thumb. "She didn't deserve you."

Eri's eyes flooded. "I don't get why everyone hates bi people!" Eri whimpered. "What did we ever do to anyone? All those stories about bi girls actually being straight— they were straight! They weren't bi! And all those stories about bi girls actually being gay— those were gay people! Bi people never did anything!" Helpless pleas, directed to the universe.

"I know. It's terrible," Umi nodded, holding Eri still in her arms.

"And it's not my fault that I can sometimes pass for straight— if I just so happen to fall for a man! I was born this way. If I fall for a girl though I'm in the same boat as everyone. It's not like I get to choose who I fall for anymore than anyone else does."

"I know, baby," Umi calmed. "I know."

"And so after putting me through all of that— she suddenly tells me today that she made a mistake and is still in love with me!" A pause. Then, Eri looked up at Umi in sudden realization. "Oh my god. I'm terrible," Eri began moving away from Umi. "First, I talk to my ex-girlfriend about my prospective new girlfriend and now I'm talking to my prospective new girlfriend about my ex-girlfriend who may still have feelings for me and who I'm feeling so utterly confused about right now."

Whatever reaction Eri had been expecting, it wasn't Umi's amused laugh. The bassist tried her best to stifle it but the shine in her eyes said she was quite amused.

"What?" Eri asked, her voice scratchy from crying.

"Nothing," Umi gave a girlish simper which indicated otherwise.

"What?" Eri asked again, her lips curving into an astonished smile.

"I just had a thought," Umi responded.

"Umi, tell me!"

Umi rolled her eyes, but not unkindly. "I just discovered that you are a lot more clumsy about relationships than you want to seem. Now everything about you makes sense."

Eri stared at Umi in half-indignation and half-mirth. "I don't know what you are talking about. I am the smoothest person you will ever meet."

"Oh yes, most definitely," Umi's tone was lighthearted sarcasm, "For example, when you gave me a wrong number?"

"That was— I was in a rush."

"When you came up to speak to me but ended up just staring at me with no words?"

"I was nervous! At least I approached you!"

"When you—"

"Okay!" Eri reached over and clamped her hands over Umi's mouth. "No more out of you!" Eri laughed. "You are going to ruin my reputation."

Umi pulled Eri's hands off her face and held them. "I like it," Umi concluded with fondness.

"I like _you_," Eri replied, cuing a drastic change in tone from merriment to seriousness.

"_I _like you," Umi said. She then reached over and caressed Eri's cheek. "But you have an ex-girlfriend that you need to deal with," Umi reminded warmly.

Eri nodded. "She's my best friend," Eri's voice broke just thinking about it.

"You shouldn't drive home tonight," Umi advised. "Come inside. We have a guest room you can stay in."

"Thank you," was Eri's reply.

But in no way were they enough.


End file.
